Literally. I don't know where to start, and I wouldn't be able to do it justice, so I won't. The singalong in Badlands; the sheer fact he did Jungleland; American Land; the connection he has with his audience is unparallelled in my experience. Those stand out right now, but tomorrow it'll be different again.
An unforgettable night.
Sound-wise, we were in a bad position to start. On the left of the pitch. Possibly the worst I've ever known. The opening songs sounded so muddy and Bruce's lyrics were almost inaudible.
Got to say I was a worried man at that point. We moved round a bit only to realise we'd been right beneath the bank of side speakers.
Moving towards the back we found a great spot at the rear of the lower tier where the sound quality was fine.
All's it needed then was the right song.
Bruce - needless to say - duly obliged with Atlantic City. Fuck me. What a gem of a version he dished up. From then I was floating on his vibe. The man is unique. Truly unique. The finest live performer in the history of popular music. No fuckin doubt.
As artists The Beatles have to take the mantle. But as a performer on that stage with his audience eating from his hand, savouring every morsel of his three hour extravaganzas there is nobody comes within a million miles of this astounding character.
Whether it be Paris, London, Dublin, Milan, Gothenburg, Florence, Naples, Barca, Madrid, Amsterdam, Sydney, New York, Miami or fuckin Cardiff he simply blows everyone away.
David Cheal writing in the Telegraph put it well. He wrote there's decent bands, there's good bands, there's great bands and there's fantastic bands....and then there's Bruce Springsteen. Doesn't begin to do the man justice but it's a start.
